Thanks! That's high praise, man, as I can see you're not short on skill yourself!
It's interesting you mention wanting to flesh out these sorts of meticulous images in your printmaking work, because it was actually printmaking that opened the door for my style to become what it is today. I was already given to high levels of detail to begin with, but when I took my first etching class, where you're essentially drawing with a needle, it kinda flung wide a whole new world of obsessiveness. I only produced two major etchings from that course, which you probably saw on my website (not that the images there really do the detail work justice), but they were really formative pieces for me.

As for the hidden figure in the first piece... one of the virtues of improvisational art is that it allows images such as these come about at all. You're apparently seeing something that "isn't there," but, honestly, if my art is making you hallucinate, I suppose that means I've done my job correctly .

Solution. 45, Hybrid, Mechina and Sybreed have all kept me great company today while I've designed. I'm creating this brand manual, which, for those who don't know, is basically a rule book that companies use that says the exact specifications of how and when to apply their logo and branding to things such as advertisements, letterheads, business cards, web, products, etc.

So, I decided to go with a private spaceflight company, (we have to make up the company and all of the original branding), and I had been struggling with the exact solution for several months. I have at least five or six complete versions that have been scraped because they weren't good enough, but I think I finally struck gold this time.

I'm essentially using minimalist vector-based images to tell a story on every spread of the manual, along with the reading all of the logo-related rules. I'm also using minimalist type, and this very light gradient blue background I've chosen has worked well with creating interesting visual hierarchy within the pages and illustrations. I wrote out this entire thing that basically takes place between man's first launch into space to colonize and research the planets, and ends on launching off from the planets and finally achieving a true accomplishment with where humanity will need to go in the future.

In terms of the story, this is how it goes, (syntax and wording will be slightly edited):

Brand Manual Story wrote:

1. And so, destined to reach the heavens, man set off into the unknown depths of space...

2. Seeing what they had sought before them, was destined to change the course of our fate for eternity...

3. The true, monumental void of space was what compelled us to move deeper into the unknown, plotting the course of our destiny...

4. The true beauty of the galaxy was beholden within us as we experienced the massiveness of our fellow galactic brethren, sitting peacefully in its void...

5. Exploring the depths of the planet, we continued our journey, as far as we could go...

6. ...to search and find what was hidden in plain sight all along...

7. ... to finally see what we have been missing since the dawn of our inception, to experience the beauty for ourselves as we journeyed through the massive space tides of emptiness and calmness.

8. And so, man then was lifted to the heavens, to touch the stars in all of their glory, and we came forth with the greatness we saw, and though we endured, we found a way to continue beyond our comfortable means...

So this is what I am working with for right now. These are all two page spreads you see as well. I know this isn't technically free fine art, but I figured it'd be cool just as the same.

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iamntbatman wrote:

Shitloads of bands continue to gloriously invoke the majestic throne of Satan every single day.

Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass. I'm quite good at writing, and I was more concerned about getting the layout and text set in the positions I feel comfortable. Syntax, grammar and spelling all need to be checked, as I know. I always do that as one of the last things.

But yeah, in part to about three pages of sketching and research, that's about seven hours of work. Three column grid, I might switch it to two, if I feel the text needs more room, or whatever.

But yeah, it's still a work in progress. Since I got a response, I might post my other projects as I work on them.

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iamntbatman wrote:

Shitloads of bands continue to gloriously invoke the majestic throne of Satan every single day.

Well you copped to that one, the Frank Frazetta one was painfully obvious, and I just found two of the others in a few seconds using a simple Google search. Try harder, man. Plagiarism isn't something people usually look upon favorably. You'll never get anywhere until you start using some imagination.

It's an important distinction to make, especially if you're going to characterize images as your own. My brother used to trace pages out of comic books when he was like eleven years old, but it's not like he'd try to pass them off as his.

Is that hand fired? Now that I'm almost out of school I kinda regret never signing up for ceramics. I guess I could buy my own materials, maybe even a potter's wheel and a kiln butt those can be a little pricey.

I'm sure digital art is allowed. Didn't you see FasterDisaster's cool graphic work? I love digital art by artists that use photoshop and a tablet. Those Wacom tablets are badass. I've got one myself just haven't gotten around to mastering it yet.

A CD cover I whipped together in an evening for Iconic Vivisect... eh, they preferred to save the design for a proper full-length instead of a demo.(...which they ended up passing out as a DIY CDr, but meh.)

One of the few pieces of work I'm mildly happy with.

A scotch glass I rendered/modelled while bored one afternoon. Back in the days when I could afford to be bored.

A scotch glass I rendered/modelled while bored one afternoon. Back in the days when I could afford to be bored.

Wait... are you saying that's not a photograph?
Awesome work man! I'm going to be going to art school next year, and I think it would be pretty awesome if I could eventually do illustrations for some metal albums. Might have to talk to you about the format at some point.

Wait... are you saying that's not a photograph? Awesome work man! I'm going to be going to art school next year, and I think it would be pretty awesome if I could eventually do illustrations for some metal albums. Might have to talk to you about the format at some point.

Nope, it's pure 3D. *knows he did a good piece of work when people start mistaking it as a photo* ^^'

As for art school... I've never heard of any art schools that touch on 3D graphics; it's primarily a field reserved for multimedia. Unless you're going to study that as well? Either way, best of luck with it.

Great work Alhadis. I like the meat hook especially. What is your setup like? A friend has been telling me to get more into 3D but I've been too into classical materials lately. I wouldn't know where to start as far as what software to get. I know there is Bryce, Maya, and Lightwave.

Great work Alhadis. I like the meat hook especially. What is your setup like? A friend has been telling me to get more into 3D but I've been too into classical materials lately. I wouldn't know where to start as far as what software to get. I know there is Bryce, Maya, and Lightwave.

I use 3D Studio Max, mate.

Bryce is... not so much a modelling program as it is a program for rendering quick visualisations and landscapes.

Maya is an acknowledged heavyweight in the 3D world, the same as 3DS Max. I've only had very minimal experience with it (read: tried a trial a few times and never bothered to learn), but I should probably start teaching myself at some point if I'm to get into an animation studio... Many foundries are using Maya for animation nowadays, so it's a valuable program to learn.

Lightwave is a P.O.S. We were forced to use it for our multimedia course. The fiddliness of the software drove me to the brink of sanity and much further. x_x Can't say I miss using it. xD

I'm sure digital art is allowed. Didn't you see FasterDisaster's cool graphic work? I love digital art by artists that use photoshop and a tablet. Those Wacom tablets are badass. I've got one myself just haven't gotten around to mastering it yet.

Haha, thank you for the kind words, sir. I actually don't use a wacom tablet, though. I sketch everything out on paper, including the layouts, then I scan it in and transfer it to a vector-based illustration.

Nothing fancy just your regular Pentel gels or maybe even a ball point. The colors were done using some kind of girly gels I borrowed from a chick nearby.

Have you checked out the ink work of the legendary artist and creator of the Voltar series, Alfredo Alcala? Truly amazing work.

Excellent work love your sketches absolutely dont look like they are done with gel or ball point pens, they are very detailed and enchanting and was wondering why you dont post them on your dev art page ?

Excellent work love your sketches absolutely dont look like they are done with gel or ball point pens, they are very detailed and enchanting and was wondering why you dont post them on your dev art page ?